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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24947683">Tsukishima</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/VTsuion/pseuds/VTsuion'>VTsuion</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Gen, Human Experimentation, Inspired by Fanfiction, M/M, Past Abuse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:34:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>782</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24947683</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/VTsuion/pseuds/VTsuion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsukishima was created in a dark place where anything that wasn't a perfect success was pathetic. As Tsukishima was a failure, he concluded that it was better just not to try. Years after Tsukishima escaped from that place, it took a weak, clumsy human to change his mind.</p>
<p>This is an AU of <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/umisabaku/pseuds/umisabaku">umisabaku</a>'s <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/376820">Designation: Miracle</a> series.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tsukishima Kei &amp; Yamaguchi Tadashi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Tsukishima</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/5841490">Have a Seat (While I Take to the Sky)</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/umisabaku/pseuds/umisabaku">umisabaku</a>.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em> “Pathetic,” </em> their creator sneered, as he always did when there was a failure among their ranks.</p>
<p>G1172 heard the doomed project begging through its tears as though there was anything it could do to change its fate.</p>
<p>Their creator and his entourage of scientists only turned and retreated back down the hall.</p>
<p>Only when they had turned out of sight did G1172’s morbid curiosity get the best of him, and compel him to peer around the corner.</p>
<p>He froze.</p>
<p>It wasn’t just any Grey Eleven doubled over on its hands and knees, sobbing, defeated. It was G1148, his <em> successful </em>older brother who had taken G1172 under his wing and helped him figure out how to use his powers. His brother who was the strongest member of Generation Crown, who was clever and strong and kind when so few others behind Teiko’s walls were. He had seemed invincible. If he was a failure then G1172 didn’t have a chance.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>All of humanity was <em> pathetic </em> too, even worse than failed projects, their creator said.</p>
<p>Years later, when G1172, now known as Tsukishima Kei, saw two pitiful humans attempting to lord their meager strength over another, all he could think to do was sneer, “<em> Pathetic. </em>”</p>
<p>He did not expect the smallest, weakest one, who could not even fend for himself, to start following him around.</p>
<p>At first, he ignored the human as he ignored most things that he found mildly irritating. But, although he would not admit it to himself, he got used to the boy’s company and eventually came to appreciate it in his way. They would never be equals - Yamaguchi, a clumsy human, and Tsukishima, a failed project - but they suited each other somehow. Yamaguchi’s presence became a routine and Tsukishima stopped thinking about it, like how his thoughts rarely lingered on his time in Teiko.</p>
<p>The only thing Yamaguchi did on his own, without Tsukishima, was play volleyball. For reasons Tsukishima could not fathom, he loved the sport, though he knew he would never succeed at it.</p>
<p>“You should play volleyball, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi insisted yet again as they walked home from school together. “You’re so tall, I’m sure you’d be an unstoppable spiker- or blocker. And you pick everything up so quickly, I’m sure it’d all come easy to you.” He gave an awkward laugh. “You’d be better than me in no time.”</p>
<p>Tsukishima replied reflexively; “Shut up, Yamaguchi.”</p>
<p>But the next time Yamaguchi went to practice, Tsukishima followed him into the gym.</p>
<p>It was easy. Even though he was a failure, Tsukishima was still faster and stronger than any ordinary human and he naturally fell back into training. He barely had to try at all to play just better than average, and though Yamaguchi struggled, at least he knew better than to get riled up over a game. So, they played and practiced a little and never drew too much attention, and it just became yet another routine. Every so often, someone would lament that if only Tsukishima tried harder, he would be truly competitive, but that was the last thing he wanted.</p>
<p>Then they went to Karasuno. Karasuno could not but remind him of Teiko. The volleyball team was small and intense and had a desperate obsession with <em> success </em> and it seemed only Tsukishima was aware that their dream was impossible. The worst of them all was Hinata, the most desperate of the lot, who could only remind him of an Orange Seven - a failed line of projects created to fly. Tsukishima could not compete against him.</p>
<p>But everything would have been fine as long as Tsukishima and Yamaguchi did what they had always done; play, but never try too hard, never get sucked in to caring too much. It hurt more than Tsukishima could have imagined when Yamaguchi started caring too. They both knew that he was just setting himself up for failure and devastation.</p>
<p>The last thing Tsukishima expected was for Yamaguchi to confront him. Timid, quiet Yamaguchi who was so easy to underestimate just because of how much he underestimated himself. Yamaguchi who believed in Tsukishima more than he believed in himself. Who somehow now had enough confidence for both of them.</p>
<p>
  <em> When had this weak, pathetic human become stronger than him? </em>
</p>
<p>And for some reason, Tsukishima wanted nothing more than to prove Yamaguchi right. To prove that he could be more than a failed project. He could never be a <em> success </em>, there would always be someone stronger. But maybe Bokuto was right, maybe all he needed was one moment, one victory that was his own. In Teiko that wasn’t nearly enough, but he wasn’t in Teiko any more. Maybe the world outside was different after all.</p>
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